For two guys who have spent the last few years of their professional lives chasing down psychopaths and serial killers, Joe Mantegna and Thomas Gibson were looking very dapper.

Our two leading men from the popular case-solving show Criminal Minds were immaculately suited up on the morning I met with them in Los Angeles, where the show is shot. Criminal profiling, apparently, comes with the side effect of having good taste in suits.

As their characters David Rossi and Aaron Hotchner, Mantegna and Gibson play the alpha males of the FBI's Behavioural Analysis Unit, or BAU. In other words, don't mess with the nice uncles.

With the double dose of testosterone in the room, it was hard to say who was the manlier man. Mantegna, on the one hand, was on that month's cover of Cigar Aficionado, puffing intensely while holding on to a classic Freudian symbol of manhood.

On the other hand, Gibson ... Well, he had a very cool iPhone case that looked like the cover of one of those old leather-bound books found in legal libraries.

Happily, judging from all the clapping of each other on the back that they did, the dynamic duo were in good spirits due to the fact that when Criminal Minds returns for a new seventh season, "the family" will be back together again.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

The Knights and Ladies of the Criminal Minds Round Table would like to welcome Lady Iseult to their ranks. Lady Guinevere and the Lady of the Lake are happy to have another Lady with whom to write poetry, perform lyrical musicales and do fancy needlework whilst their Knights are off fighting battles, slaying dragons and whatnot.

Tristan and Iseult are second only to Lancelot and Guinevere as the great lovers of Arthurian legend. Their tragic love story has been the subject of many medieval and modern day love stories. Does Tristan and Isolde ring any bells?

Lady Iseult was the daughter of King Anguish of Ireland and was betrothed to King Mark of Cornwall, until she drank a love potion and fell hopelessly and helplessly in love with our dear Sir Tristan. It is said that when she heard of Tristan's death, she died of a broken heart. But we know better - Tristan and Iseult reside happily amongst the Knights and Ladies of the Criminal Minds Round Table.

Having grown up in a family that recycles, Erica Messer makes sure the set of "Criminal Minds," the show she produces, does the same — among other green practices. "My granddad used to have me stomp on his Pepsi cans and we'd take them to the recycling place. I grew up doing it so if I see a can in the trash I take it out and put it in the recycling bin. We have bins and recycle everything on the stage, and all internal documents and scripts are double-sided. It reduces the costs but it's more than that. It makes me crazy" when people don't do it, said Messer, at CBS' fall launch event at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills.

The procedural drama, which follows the elite BAU criminal profiling unit of the FBI as they hunt down serial killers, returns for its seventh season Sept. 21 on CBS. "I think the writers do a really good job of keeping the show very smart. It's a very dark show but I think the reason people like is not just that it's creepy and dark. It's a very smart, intuitive, informative show," Shemar Moore accounted for "Criminal Minds'" enduring popularity. "I think the seven of us have a really good chemistry. We don't step on each other's toes. Whoever you are you can relate to at least one of us," the actor (pictured below with Kirsten Vangsness), who recycles at home, added.

Shemar Moore, our favorite BAU tough guy, will put his well-honed muscles to work this weekend as he participates in the Nor Cal Tough Mudder Event. Shemar will be one of the members of the Stray Dogs Tough Mudder team which also features CM writer Rick Dunkle, former CM family members Simon Mirren and Jace Sparks as well as actors David James Elliot (J.A.G.) and Kevin McKidd (Grey’s Anatomy).

What is Tough Mudder? Only one of the toughest, most-challenging, difficult, grueling obstacle courses ever devised. It will test not just their fitness, strength and stamina but also both their physical and mental toughness. It’s the toughest military style obstacle course you could dream up on steroids. This 11 mile event will take place over an elevation increase of 2,300 feet in the mountains of Squaw Valley, CA September 17 and 18 to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project and other charities.

Monday, September 12, 2011

CBS Looks to Tweet Up Ratings

Network launches two weeks of social media events with live chats with executive producers and the return of Tweet Week

By George Winslow -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/12/2011 7:12:26 PM

CBS is kicking off the new fall season with two full weeks of social media events, starting on Monday, Sept. 12, with the launch of its airing of its Fall Premiere Show, hosted by Ashley Hartman, and live executive producer chats on CBS.com.

Sept.19 through Sept. 26 will see the return of CBS Tweet Week, which features live tweets from stars of the shows.

Starting at 7:30 p.m. ET, on Monday, Sept. 12-18, CBS.com users can watch a 15-minute episode introducing them to CBS's nightly lineup. Each episode features exclusive content from CBS's new and returning fall series and will be followed by a live chat events with the executive producers.

The chats will coincide with the East Coast rebroadcasts of most of the shows' 2010-2011 season finales except for CSI.

"Proof" - The BAU team searches rural Oklahoma when women are being found murdered after being robbed of one of their five senses. Also, JJ and Prentiss get the cold shoulder from Reid as he deals with their deception about Prentiss' presumed death, on CRIMINAL MINDS,Wednesday, Sept. 28(9:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Andy Milder ("Weeds") guest stars as Cy, a mentally-challenged man, and Tracy Middendorf ("CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," "Boardwalk Empire") guest starsas Lyla Bradstone, Cy's sister-in-law.

A lot has been said about the recent Criminal Minds panel at the Paley Center. CMRT was in the house too. The best looking cast on TV looked amazing and seemed so excited about the upcoming season. Here are a few highlights that we took away from that evening:

1) From the short segment of the season opener “It Takes A Village” we were shown, the first episode it going to ROCK. It looks like we are in for a wild ride.

2) It is GREAT to have the team back together. Paget Brewster and AJ Cook were missed last year and we are so excited to have them back. The seven actors on that stage have the best chemistry. Prentiss back from “the dead” and the return of JJ is the best outcome we could have ever hoped for. Thankfully CBS worked things out with Shemar and Thomas too so we can have them all this coming season.

3) They are not going to gloss over the deceit surrounding Emily’s “death”. The team was fractured; let’s hope we get great drama as they put it back together.

4) We are very excited to have Erica Messer running our show. CBS could have brought in an outsider to take over for Ed Bernero but chose to promote from within. Erica has been with us from the very beginning. She is as big a fan of CM as we are. Erica promises to bring the BADASSERY to CM. Bring it on, Erica!!

5) Hotch with a beard is sexy. In fact, it was Thomas Gibson’s return from hiatus with his beard that got the show to want to write it into the show. Hotch’s beard should be in the opening credits as a supporting player.

6) JJ as a profiler means we get to see a whole new side of her and we can’t wait.

7) Season 7 is going to let us dive a little into what drives these seven agents to continue to do what they do. Anyone else excited to see some new layers added to our beloved characters?

8) We really do have the BEST looking cast on television. Sorry, had to say it again!

I think Kirsten Vangsness had the best analogy of the evening. She said last year they had a whole bunch of lemons thrown at them; the debacle with AJ and Paget, the contract negotiations with Shemar Moore and Thomas Gibson, Ed Bernero leaving, new writers to name a few. This year they’ve taken those lemons and are going to try and make the best and sweetest lemonade ever!

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WHO WE ARE

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the Criminal Minds Round Table. When we were positing names for this blog, and Sir Bedivere suggested Criminal Minds Round Table, we knew immediately that was the perfect name for our blog.

It fit in so many ways.

Many fans, and Ed Bernero (Criminal Minds' former Showrunner and Executive Producer) himself, compare the show and its characters to The Arthurian Legend and the Knights of the Round Table. Mr. Bernero even went so far as to say that he knew that the stories had to be “Arthurian” to appeal to the most people. The team meets to brief cases at a round table, and there are many parallels between our BAU team and the Knights and other Arthurian characters.

In addition, a Round Table discussion is what we want to have here about any and all topics Criminal Minds-related. In a Round Table discussion, each participant has equal status and equal time to present views. And finally, since this is going to be a group effort amongst a group of Criminal Minds fans, we are going to take turns around the table, with each of us posting about the show, our favorite characters and our favorite actors on the show.